If a seller, a dealer or a friend tells you to “get a REVS check”, they mean the right thing by an old name. The search that answers the question now is a PPSR search, and it covers the whole country.
What REVS was
REVS was the Register of Encumbered Vehicles, run in New South Wales. “Encumbered” meant a lender had a registered interest in the vehicle — usually because it was bought on finance that had not been paid off. A REVS certificate told a buyer whether that was the case.
The other states kept registers of their own. They were separate systems, so a vehicle financed in one state and sold in another could slip between them.
What replaced it
On 30 January 2012 the Personal Property Securities Act 2009 commenced, and the state registers, REVS included, were replaced by one national register: the Personal Property Securities Register, or PPSR.
The question it answers for a vehicle is the same one REVS answered. The vocabulary changed: what REVS called an encumbrance, the PPSR calls a security interest.
Why it is better for a buyer
- It is national. A security interest registered anywhere in Australia shows up, whichever state the vehicle is registered in now.
- Written-off and stolen records come with it. They are drawn from NEVDIS, the national vehicle database, so they too cover every state.
- The certificate protects you. A buyer who searched the register before buying is in a materially different position from one who did not, if a lender later claims the vehicle.
Old term, new term
| On a REVS check | In your report today |
|---|---|
| Encumbrance | Money owing (a registered security interest), with the lender's details |
| Written off | NEVDIS write-off records, statutory and repairable |
| Stolen | NEVDIS theft records for the vehicle, its plates and its engine |
| Registration and vehicle details | State, plate, expiry, make, model, body, colour, year and engine number |
| REVS certificate | Official PPSR search certificate, as a PDF |
So what should you ask for?
Either name gets you the same thing here. A REVS Checker report is a PPSR search, run by VIN or by number plate, with the official certificate attached and a plain-English summary on top.